County to screen homeless men for TB

STOCKTON - A rising number of homeless men with tuberculosis is prompting county health officials to begin screening men staying in downtown homeless shelters.

Zachary K. Johnson

STOCKTON - A rising number of homeless men with tuberculosis is prompting county health officials to begin screening men staying in downtown homeless shelters.

Though the disease can be serious, officials stress the risk of the disease spreading to the general public is low.

The number of homeless men with tuberculosis in San Joaquin County jumped from nine to 16 in 2006, and samples sent to the state linked most of the 2006 cases to the Stockton Shelter for the Homeless on South Harrison Street, said Dr. Karen Furst, the county's health officer.

"DNA fingerprinting" connected the shelter to a handful of cases outside the county and at least one more case inside the county this year, she said.

Because many of the cases are linked to one place, "We have to make sure there aren't more people who have active TB who haven't been identified," she said.

Tuberculosis does not spread easily from person to person like the cold or flu, so the risk the disease will spread to the public at large is low, Furst said in a statement. Transmission of the disease requires prolonged exposure and usually occurs in households or grouped settings, such as a homeless shelter, she added.

However, the disease can be fatal when coupled with conditions that affect the immune system, she said.

Symptoms may include prolonged cough, fever, weight loss, fatigue and coughing up blood.

Cases were only linked to the men's shelter and not areas for women and families, said Karen McConnell, the county's public information officer.